Acts of Random Kindness to You

Anyone want to take a journey with me in 2010? I am planning to lose over 100 pounds before the 1st day of 2011. It won’t be easy, but I have all of the tools I need to be successful and I would love for you to see it happen right here on ARK2U.  After all, it we aren’t kind to ourselves, there is no way for us to have the energy to be kind to others.

So, beginning on January 1st, I will devote a separate category to weightloss. I would love to have all of your support, tips, encouragement, and even failures to help me along the way. Let’s make 2010 the year to remember for all of us. Isn’t it about time?

This time of year is crazy. You are so concerned about making everything nice for others that somewhere along the way, you lose yourself. It may only be for a month or so, but even at this time of year, it is important to be kind to yourself.

Save a few minutes every day to do something you enjoy such as reading a good book, playing on your favorite website or indulging in your favorite television show. Also, don’t stop exercising and eating right. It’s okay to indulge in those holiday treats, but take some time out and continue your healthy habits. This will give you the energy you need and the attitude others like to be around.

The holidays are not just for everyone else. They are for you too. So, relax and enjoy them by taking a moment or two out for you. Make it your very own special gift. Happy Holidays!

It is one of the best and most emotional times of the year. I lost my dear grandmother at Christmas time and this year will be celebrating a 2nd year with my father in a nursing home at Christmas time. I have much that I am blessed with, but there certainly are things that make me sad.

I will be writing a Christmas post very soon and also have some new ideas for the coming New Year. Stay tuned and enjoy the days ahead.

As a teacher, I spend a great amount of time looking at books, reading books, and picking just the right book to get kids interested in reading and writing. As an aunt, I always want to be sure I know that my nieces and nephews can each express themselves in their own way. So, I was super excited when I had the chance to look at and review “The Daily Doodle” written by  Janet Lee (who just happens to have her PH. D and might know a bit of something about children).

The first thing I noticed about this book was that it was colorful and fun looking. My niece was immediately drawn to the colors and pictures on the cover. So, we decided to explore it together. The first few pages are full of ideas and thoughts for parents and ‘kudos’ to the author as she also remembered to write a letter to the kids. My niece loved me reading the letter directly to her and we hadn’t even gotten to the fun part yet.

Once you get into the book itself, it has pages and pages of activities geared toward self expression for children. Each pages has a topic and then there is lots of room for the child to draw or write whatever it is they feel about that topic. I was curious to see what my niece thought about bedtime because unlike her teenage brother who loves to sleep, putting this 6 year old to bed is nothing short of a miracle. So, we turned to that page and I read the title, “Bedtime”. I told her to write or draw whatever she wanted and at first she was hesitant, so I acted busy doing something else and she began. She colored and drew for a good 15 minutes before showing me the picture of a “playground” of all things. It gave me a great place to ask, “Why?”  She explained to me that every night when she goes to bed she is mad because she has to stop playing. She wants to play and not sleep so much. Can you imagine the discussion from this one simple activity?

It got me excited because some of the pages could really allow a child to express themselves and give their parent/teacher/counselor a jumping point for discussion. My niece and I were both very impressed by the book. We decided we would do one activity a day, but I can also see that it could be used on an as needed basis or any way that someone felt it would fit their situation.

So, if you have an opportunity to buy one fun, but useful book for your child, I would without hesitation recommend that you check out, “The Daily Doodle” written by Janet Lee or check out her webpage for other books at www.drjanetlee.com or on Amazon.com

I am a Special Educator and I love it. I love the kids and I love what I do. My kids have so many amazing capabilities. Once in awhile, they struggle with their behavior or a writing assignment, but otherwise they are typical high school age kids. I decided to do “ONE MORE YEAR” of summer school with them, so I am currently in the middle of that and although they are there for a variety of reasons, my reason for being there is the success of the kids.

Once we hit summer school, it is a new start. I don’t care that they failed during the regular school year or that they didn’t do a thing I asked them to all year. They get another chance now and that’s what we are there for; to do it together!

So, today a wonderful co-worker brought them a homemade treat. They loved it. It made me chuckle though that her children had wondered why she was bringing something to kids that had failed. I loved her explanation to them and I think it speaks volumes.
She told her children, “Have you ever failed at anything? When you fail is when I try the hardest to let you know that it’s o-kay to fail and that I will be there to help you get back up. We all fail! We all need someone to pick us back up and today that pick up for these students is this treat!”

We do all need people to pick us up when we fail. Failure is a part of life and often a time that I personally learn more than I learn from success. So, remember the next time you see someone fail that it may be you that gets them back on track. One act of kindness at a time, we can all change the world.

Wow. I can’t believe it has been so long since I last wrote here. I have no good excuse except that I am a slacker sometimes. I admit it. Yes, life has been busy, but not so busy that I couldn’t jot a few lines about kindness. I think it is often times the being busy that keeps us from being kind and noticing kindness in our lives. Enough about that, I have some kindness that I would like to spread to my readers. Below, I am going to list some sites and links that over the past few years have made me some real money. Although they are referral links, feel free to use them without the referral if you would rather. These are legitimate and fun sites. Once that have outlasted the others and a couple of new ones too. Interested? Read on and check out those that interest you!!

1.) Mypoints – An old standby. I can expect without doing any purchasing to get at least (3) $25 gift cards from here a year. They are reliable and the prizes come quick.

2.) Swagbucks – This is an amazing site. You can search and win Swagbucks that turn into gift cards, prizes, and now even paypal. I have earned several hundred dollars since December of 2008 for just searches and participating in contests. If you do ONE site, I would make it this one!!!

3.) Gather – A great Social Networking site. Although the prizes have slowed down somewhat, they are reliable and often have contests that allow you to win more points. Points become gift cards and now even paypal. You will meet some amazing people while winning some great prizes too.

4.) GSN – A fun game show site. This one is fairly new for me, but I cashed out for (2) $10 gift cards and received them almost immediately. So far, so good and a really fun site too. You win OODLES and turn them in for prizes. Great fun!

5.) Redgage - Another new site, but interesting in concept. It too is a social networking site, but you get paid for your content. It can be anything you have done. Blogs, posts on sites, articles…anything you want to share and the bigger your network…the more you make. Interested? If you want to use me as a referral, just type Cyclonewriter where it askes who sent you. If not, that’s fine but look me up so we can be friends!!

These would be my top 5. Got others? I would love to hear about them. Be sure to give me your referral link in case I am interested…Regardless of what you decide, just remember that kindness makes the world a better place !

I just wanted to wish all the ladies out there a Happy Mother’s Day! I am not a mother, but I have a mother and this is a significant day. Mothers work hard all year long and they deserve a day to be appreciated and shown gratitude.

We went to breakfast this morning at Bob Evans and brought back breakfast for my 81 year old Mother in Law. She is no dummy. She knew getting out would mean a crowded restaurant so instead her wish was for breakfast to be brought to her.

Tonight we will get together with my mother and brothers. We are having just some Little Ceasar’s pizzas. It may sound not too fancy, but it keeps from anyone having to prepare and do dishes on what should be a relaxing day!

So, how are you celebrating? Don’t forget to call your aunts, grandmas, and other special ladies in your life. It will mean a lot and we can change the world with one random act of kindness at a time!

I am not overtly religious. Oh, I was raised in a church and I do believe in God and Heaven, but when it comes to organized religion, I am a bit remiss in taking part. Sometimes, I feel bad about that and other times I think my reasons are legitimate. So, I go about my merry way simply trying to be a good person and to do what I think is right. I own up to things that I do wrong and try to fix them and I always give thanks to whomever deserves it.

So, today, I will indeed Thank God. This weekend, we traveled for “Girls Weekend” in Syracuse, NY. It was my sister-in-law, my mom, and my 6 year old niece. About halfway through the day, it happened. It all seemed like slow motion and yet it happened so fast. We were in a head on collision. I remember thinking that there was nothing more we could do and watching the other vehicle slam into us. I never screamed or panicked and I immediately checked to be sure everyone was okay. Then I saw the other man’s windshield, it was shattered and I was concerned. Somehow, some way, he was fine too.

It didn’t make the weekend great, but it could have been much worse. I could have been bitter that our weekend was ruined, but instead I was so grateful that it was only the vehicles that were hurt. Once we got our wits about us, the cops were called and came. We were able to get back on our way once a mechanic looked at the truck.

So, I am home now and still amazed that even though we are all sore and even a little bit shaken, we are all physically fine. Someone was looking over us this past Saturday and I believe that for each person, it may have been whomever or whatever they believe in, but as for me, I will indeed, “THANK GOD!”

Who knew that making a call could make such an incredible difference in someone’s day? Yesterday, I was in Wal-mart and when I came out with my cart loaded, the wind was blowing in gusts of 40 mph or better. It was terrible.

A young man in his teens approached me and said that Wal-mart had put extra help on to assist in the parking lot due to the wind. I told him I was fine, but he insisted on helping. He was such a polite young man and absolutely refused a tip. As he walked away in the wind I heard him say, “Have a great night.” I chuckled. I mean he was going to be the one standing in the wind and rain for the next several hours and yet he smiled and said this to me.  After a long day, I left Wal-mart with a smile.

On my way home, I decided to call management and let them know about this experience. The manager was so pleased that she was heading out to the parking lot to let the young man know. On top of that, his parents had both been laid off and he had been asking for extra hours a lot lately. She stated to me, “He is going to get some of those extra hours because of this call.”  Apparently she had taken a lot of guff from other employees about this not so fun job, but he had just been pleased for the hours.

If you are ever in doubt, make that call and let people know when they have done something well. It could make the difference and it never hurts to spread a little extra kindness.

Television is always one of those topics that can heat up a discussion. Some people love it, some people hate it and others don’t think much about it one way or the other. Today, one has to be a little picky about what they are going to watch on television especially when it comes to children.

However, that is not to say that there are some really good program options out there. Still fighting the good fight are the PBS stations available in most places. From Sesame Street to Masterpiece Theater; if you look long enough there is something for everyone on PBS.

There is lots of family fun to be found on TVLand and other stations as well. Personally, I watch what I want to watch, but I am not looking out for the influence it might have on children either. I know and follow good morals as well as understanding right from wrong, so if I decide to watch a rather slanted sit com one night or a fast paced action show another night, I am not convinced it is hurting me.

I would love to hear what others think about the topic of televison programming as well…so share away and remember no matter what you watch, it is really all about actions. Spread a little kindness before settling down to watch television tonight.